Barking Mad To Run
INTRO
I am Scott aka Scottydog aka Scotty Dogg, runner since 1983, cancer survivor – caught very early, so I actually had a fairly easy time of it - , retired Air Force, employee of University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), friend of dogs, fun-runner, and all-around punster and goofball. In 2003 I had spinal arthritis flare up and ever since then I’ve done the run/walk method since it hurts my back too much now to run continuously with no walk breaks. I’m on what I call my “2F Plan” which stands for Fun and Finish. My only goals for a race these days are finish everything I start, have fun along the way, and finish standing up with no ambulance waiting for me. At events that I now do for fun I carry my camera, chase “Great Legs” to help motivate my slow old man self to keep moving forward, and take pictures before, during, and after the race. Sometimes I even get a nice post-race sweaty hug from one of the Great Legs ladies. I then do a pictorial race report of my events. I also carry dog biscuits with me to treat any dogs I may meet at a run – unless it’s a mean dog; then the biscuit goes in one direction and I go in another. Hence my nickname “Scottydog.”
And a big thanks to runningahead.com for allowing me a “home” for my many many MANY race reports and photos. Great site, free training log; calendars; running routes; maps; conversation forums for runners; and much more
Here is yet another of my photo reports. Full report below.
Link to photos only: http://s166.photobucket.com/user/scottydog69/slideshow/2017%20Race%20Reports/2017%20Race%207%20Chocaholic%20Frolick%205K%20and%2010K
A couple of the photos came out a bit blurry, sorry about that, I am definitely no professional photographer, lol, but at least the photos are free.
BEFORE MY START
My 7th race of 2017, held on Feb 5, was the Chocoholic Frolic 5K (there was also a 10K) at Morgan’s Wonderland [www.morganswonderland.com], a beautiful park designed especially for those with special needs. This park now has a world-wide reputation and parks like it in other locations have been made using its design. This event supports The Academy at Morgan’s Wonderland, a special needs school co-located near the park. I live about 3 miles from the park so, with an 8:30 a.m. start time, I was able to sleep in a bit. Then it was off to the park, arriving with about 40 minutes to go to start time and getting some pre-start photos.
I have arrived at the park and the start line..
Always love seeing my lil "Munchkin" friend, Karen, lol...
Just inside the park...
Home of professional soccer in San Antonio is Toyota Stadium, right across from Morgan's Wonderland
Various participants, supporters, etc. The blue zipper shirts some people are wearing is the shirt that participants got in the goody bag.
5K folks in the start area. We started at 8:30 a.m. The 10K folks started at 9:30 a.m.
Start line selfie with my old-fashioned Canon camera, lol.
ON THE COURSE
Start in front of Morgan’s Wonderland, do a loop around the roads near the park, Toyota Stadium, and Heroes Stadium, then finish by going inside the park and around the park’s man-made lake. The course was actually a bit short – some people around me at the finish with garmins told me 2.9, others said 2.8, and a few said 3.0….so I’ll just ‘average it, and say about 2.9 miles. No big deal for me, I am not training for anything, so whatever the actual distance was, I still enjoyed myself on this course.
San Antonio weather – and probably all around Texas too – was crazy again. We were just in the low 80s on Wednesday during the past week. Then on race day, the temp dropped into the upper 50s, low 60s, rain threatening – it did not rain on us – and the humidity was pretty high, in the 90 percentile range. Jeez, Mother Nature, make up your mind!
I did my usual 8-min run/2 min walk thing and took 2 walk breaks, getting some on-course photos during those. After that, it was non-stop for me to the finish. My finish time was 31:34...and the last mile I did, I noticed I completed in 10:18. That is speedy for my old legs, lol.
The hill where the turn-around point was....I think this is where the course got 'shorted'....my guess is the turn-around point was not moved back enough on the hill....the 5K folks did this hill once - the 10K folks did it twice as they did 2 loops of the course.
Heading back to the park and the finish...
On the way back, saw this sign...
And this Morgan's Wonderland 'water park" being built to open in Spring 2017...a water park designed specifically for those with special needs. Nice!
AFTER MY FINISH
Postrace goodies were pretty simple, bottled water and you got a chocolate bar. I gave my chocolate bar away, drank the water, and then wandered around getting some more photos.
If you are an old guy like me....surround yourself with pretty ladies, and you then look great!
The Race Director
Got some photos of the 10K folks as they began to gather for their start..
After letting the 10K folks get a good start, I walked onto the course and got some photos of them on the course. My friends from Team Beef had quite a few folks out there.
I believe this guy was the overall male winner for the 10K
My friend Karen walking the 10K
This lovely lady - her name went right out of my head, sorry - stopped to get a selfie with me, lol
EPILOGUE
Aside from having no post-race beer for me, this is a really enjoyable event. When you get to run inside the Morgan’s Wonderland park grounds, it is always a very unique venue, and very nice. This is the first time I’ve done the Chocaholic event and it seemed kind of low-key to me. No results posted – you go online to find them – and no age group awards. This one was all about just having fun and chocolate and getting a very nice pull-over zip-up shirt too in the goodie bag. Lots of friendly people, a good race ‘atmosphere’ and pretty nice course, even if it was a tad short, but I’m sure that will probably be fixed in the future. I would probably do this one again sometime.
MUCHO THANKS to all the people who made this one happen for us, volunteers, all the sponsors/vendors, law enforcement/park police, Morgan’s Wonderland. etc. Hope you enjoyed the report and photos. Now I gotta go eat some chocolate..
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
That's different, having the 10k people start so much later. It means a long morning for the volunteers, especially if you have walkers. Looks like a lot of people participated in both races.
I was expecting more chocolate in this race report! Is chocolate one of the things that you don't like, Scotty?
That park and water park for kids with special needs looks fantastic, and overall it looks like a great event!